I'm re-reading several of these old test threads by
@redbull660, good stuff.
The IR readings are...well,
possibly wildly inaccurate.
NOT to criticize, simply for education on this
one part of the testing:
Without comparing IR and thermocouple results at different temperatures (like room temperature and several temperatures in an oven) the readings are indeterminate. Emissivity varies by temperature, and per bar, so the way to measure temperature accurately is by testing each bar with IR and thermocouple at different temperatures, making a chart, then running the experiment and adjusting the readings per the chart. (IR is a good way to read bar temperatures due to chainsaw bars cooling faster than a thermocouple can read temperatures).
I think this is why the bar temperature results near the powerhead varied greatly between bars, but was consistent between different bar lengths of the same brand. The temperatures should have been fairly consistent as the amount of work the powerhead does is statistically consistant: cutting wood is the major contributing factor, the bar contribution is insignificant. (We can spin a chain around a bar by hand, but not if it's burried in wood, therefore cutting wood is the majority of the work the powerhead does.)
Unfortunately the most accurate
temperature results here are probably gained by grabbing the bar by hand, which is good to know moving forward.
The focus should be the results of the effort
@redbull660 put into the bar comparisons which is both useful and appreciated. It's unfortunate the videos were taken down, the testing does show definite price vs. performance differences.
